St Edwards University - Tower Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 109 text:

| Belionestly! It made for a believable story once, but it may be more difficult to make it stick a second time. Oh, people really did love it the first time, the whole idea of a bunch of giddy females beating out all those serious athletes in football. But now in basketball too? “Who are these ringers?” the people began to ask. “Golly, this is remarkable!” Sorry Excuse coach Kevin O’Connor was over- heard discussing his strategy. ‘Why are they doing these things to us?”’ they asked. “Okay, has everybody gotten a chance to play yet?” O’Connor was overheard. “Do they remind you of the old Knockers?” they asked. “Awright, let’s tone down the heckling shall we!’ O’Connor was overheard. Yes, that’s right, it wasn’t Vince Lombar—, er, that is, Adolph Rupp speak- ing. American sports fans have been asked to believe a lot of fantastic things lately, like Mark Spitz can really act, like the unbeat- able Dolphins were really underdogs to the Over The Hill Gang, or like baseball really has a commissioner, so maybe they can believe that the Sorry Excuse could really win two intramural titles without losing their, well, Sorry Excuseness. They were still disrespectfully pre- cocious. And irrepressibly mischievous. And O’Connor still wasn’t Vince Lom-, er, Adolph Rupp. The trouble is that the Sorry Excuse apparently missed the lesson the Mets learned in 1969. The Mets haven’t won a pennant since and the people still believe in them. Apparently O’Connor wasn’t Yogi Berra either. For Billingsley’s Brewery, except for a name change (“Yur Gang” having been dropped in honor of their charismatic coach), things were also pretty much the same. So it follows that not much was different when the Excuse and Brewery met for the rubber game of their season’s series. Again a championship was on the line and again the Sorry Excuse won it in reward of another desperate comeback. In a seesaw game no one ever led by more than three until the Brewery spurted ahead by five with 1:10 left. Of course that was their fatal mistake because it was miracle time again for the Sorry Excuse. Chris Jackson’s free throw in the last half minute brought the Excuse back within a point, and then Kathy Kelly’s 10-footer regained the lead for go od when Mary Fowler’s desperate 40-footer caromed off the rim at the buzzer. Annette Edwards’ 16 points practi- cally neutralized Fowler’s game-high 18, so the big shooters were not the deciding factor this evening. Defense was, and while hustle and positioning by Brewery guards Janice Lindemann, Marie Slavik, and Mary Brady kept the Excuse within reach, the Excuse’s Sylvia Poncik was giving the Brewery forwards only one shot, and it is difficult to win from the outside alone. Yet the Brewery almost pulled it off. Which would have saved O’Connor some explaining. 1973 Girls’ Basketball Sorry Excuse B’ing’y’s Brewery Lime Crush Knockers Hillbottoms Circus In one of the season’s most engaging games Kevin O’Connor’s Red All-Stars held off a late rally to defeat Dave Gifford’s Blue All-Stars in overtime, 26-19. Above in the back row are Jeanne Stringer, who played brilliantly in the clutch, Janice Lindemann, Diane Gregg, Sylvia Poncik, and O’Comnor. In front are Peggy Kucera, MVP Mary Fowler, Annette Edwards, and Rosemary McNally. For the Blues Mary Fleming starred at forward and Jackie Jensen was intimidating on defense. 105

Page 108 text:

By George! think they’ve got it! | Or so everyone concurred in suspicious bemusement as O’Connor’s fair ladies risked innocence and lovability by winning their second intramural champtonship. 104 |

Page 110 text:

An easy Nut to crack The Apostles repeat as softball champions when the Tuf-Nuts embarrass them- selves again. 106 Ik was 1970 and five minutes remained in an SEFL playoff game between the legend- ary Hoopshooters and some flashy freshman team. The Shooters led 13-0 with their gaze set on the real business of the coming cham- pionship game, when the freshmen scored twice to stun the defending champs 14-13 and earn the berth in that game. The Zoo handled the starry-eyed youngsters easily, but they had served notice of great things to come from the Tuf-Nuts. Sadly, in 1973 people were still awaiting great things from the Tuf-Nuts after they were obliterated in a championship game for the fifth time since that proud afternoon in 1970. The curious fact about sports is that it’s better to finish third (or even last!) than second, because people do not perceive a third place team as having choked in the clutch. And they’re right. A third place team did its choking in very ordinary circum- stances. The Tuf-Nuts faced no ordinary task in tackling the defending champion Apostles in arematch of the 1972 SEL World Series. Joe Kelly was still the second best pitcher in the league, and through the left side he was sup- ported by Terry Bauer at third, Tom Mc- Closkey at short, Mike Coz in left, Tim Mac- Collum in center, and Nick Nichols at rover. MacCollum (.433) and McCloskey (.384) were the league’s leading hitters, and Mc- Closkey was third in RBI’s. But the Tuf-Nuts were in the best shape they’d ever been. The left side of their in- field with Rodney Tieken at third and Bobby Semptimphelter at short might have had a quickness edge on the Apostles, and the Tuf-Nuts boasted unquestionably the best pitcher in the league in Kevin Burns. It was Burns who had shut out the National League All-Stars almost by himself; seven times the Nationals grounded back to Burns, which was no fluke against the pitcher who probably averaged five assists a game. Walk- ing less than ten men all season, Burns’ out- standing control of his high arcing pitches kept hitters in the hole, inviting all those easy nubbers back to the box or to the left side. Most important of all, however, the Tuf-Nuts seemed to have overcome the in- ternal friction that had destroyed them in four previous championship contests. During their important Longest Day doubleheader with the Cascades the Nuts displayed re- markable composure while outlasting the Cascades in 14 innings in the first game be- fore they shut them out in the second to sweep their only challenger and lock up first place in the American League.